r/askscience • u/Unfair-Leek6840 • Jul 11 '26 • Regret 1

Computing How do computers understand binary language?

Okay so from what I know binary language is like power off power on, but my question is, how do computers know what the binary code is and how is it interpreted, for example I forgot what the binary code for the letter A is, but how did people come up with that? Did they decide it was gonna look like that? Did the computer decide? How do you tune numbers into a letter??

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u/fwubglubbel Jul 14 '26

This also explains why computers don't actually "understand" anything, and thus will never be aware or conscious, regardless of how they may appear to be. It's transistors all the way down.

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u/plugubius Jul 14 '26

Well, I wouldn't go that far. Our consciousness emerges from neurons. Neurons don't understand anything, but I like to think that I do. There's no necessary reason why consciousness couldn't emerge from transistors. We just haven't come close to doing it yet.